


lover.

by clizzyhours



Category: Shadowhunters
Genre: Choices, F/F, Isabelle has a red tail yes, Language, Love, Maiabelle, Mermaids, Ocean, Other, Symbolism, differing writing styles, marine biologist!Maia, narrated by three different povs, no other warnings i don’t think, non-binary isabelle, please suspend disbelief at some parts yes, slight angst, slight references to Maia’s past but it’s not explicit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:20:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21708871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clizzyhours/pseuds/clizzyhours
Summary: Maia didn’t mean to fall in-love with a mermaid but fate has plans for us all.
Relationships: Isabelle Lightwood/Maia Roberts
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16
Collections: shadowhunters sapphic ficathon, shadowhunters sapphic library





	lover.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maiaslightwood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maiaslightwood/gifts).



> warnings: i don’t really think so?  
> language at times. 
> 
> Isabelle is non-binary and i hope i did justice by this 💓
> 
> also prompt for a quote that is mentioned in here. check out shsapphicfics on twitter 😎
> 
> a late birthday gift for maiabelle no.1: rike  
> love you and you deserve everything.
> 
> also shoutout to lara, laura, and aubrey 💘
> 
> thank you so much and please enjoy.

This story doesn’t begin nor does it end.

You see.

There’s no real start nor real conclusion.

It doesn’t begin like this -

it doesn’t end like that -

you see 

the story goes on and on and on.

—

They belongs to the vast sea.

There’s an ache in their heart and soul when their away, a yearning for deep open, wide sea.

Land is -

land is only bearable with her, Isabelle thinks.

They yearn for her - Maia, a lovely name they have pondered numerous times, savoring her name out-loud through syllables and vowels and unspoken thoughts.

But oh.

They yearns for the sea too.

Isabelle is split between two homes and it slices at their core, pushes their cold heart into something alive, aching and wanting fiercely.

They cannot keep Maia. 

Maia is a fierce lightning storm in a bottle. She’s raging and gentle and protective all at once, dedicated beyond what people see her.

They would never keep Maia.

They couldn’t.

The thought is unfathomable, too terrifying and unknown.

Maia is her own individual and person and Isabelle will not be like all the others who chained her.

She deserves liberation and freedom and endless love, Isabelle thinks.

Isabelle stretches on cool ground and lets the sun seep into their skin.

If they closes their eyes for a while, they can pretend they have Maia and the sea.

—

But what doesn’t occur to Isabelle is this: what does Maia want?

We’re so struck by sacrifice and love that a person often doesn’t realize the lengths the other person are willing to go for them.

Isabelle is besotted and doesn’t see. 

Cannot see yet.

Oh, but they will, oh they will.

Don’t they know that Maia feels the same way?

Don’t they know what Maia would do for them?

That Maia yearns for change? For difference?

For freedom and liberation and the love of a lifetime?

Oh, silly lovers. How contrived, how foolish. 

The need to protect; the need to sacrifice.

You will see.

—

Maia is hunched over at a coffee table, papers and pens and school work spread out akin to a messy artist.

Her last exam is coming up and graduation is less then days away. Excitement and anxiety are wreaking havoc inside of her and so she focuses upon her studies again.

It helps to center herself this way.

Isabelle needs to know -

She plans on changing the world.

A degree in marine biology, a boat, and Isabelle -

she has a plan.

The past will not tether her down and she will free herself.

Liberation, freedom, peace - aren’t these the things she deserves?

Isn’t it what Isabelle deserves?

God, Maia thinks, she can’t wait.

The cafe’s door swings shut as a bell jingles, all while Maia sketches and plans accordingly.

—

Good things come to those who wait.

And so the story goes on.

—

If I know what love is, it is because of you, Isabelle says in their heart.

Maia thinks the same, head, heart and soul.

i know what love is.

—

maia stumbled upon isabelle by complete accident.

the sky was like a black canvas and the ocean had soothed her, beaconed her like a siren’s call.

the sand was cool, soft underneath her bare feet and she walked, walked and walked endlessly across the shore.

she wouldn’t let - 

she wouldn’t let her past take this away from her and so she ventures, she goes.

maia walks across the beach that once haunted her.

one foot after another. step by step. she breathes and listens to her steady heart.

the water is calm and the tide runs up to lap at her feet.

the day after a storm is always calm, she thinks, like nothing ever happened.

maia moves again and heads towards a sparse pile of rocks, oversized boulders nestled into a cavern of sort. she climbs quickly up a boulder, cautious of the slight sheen of grime and wet substances draped across the surface.

she sees a blanket of black, matted hair and gapes.

her brown eyes scan the vicinity and she sees a -

the fuck, maia can’t help but internally screams.

a tail.

she sees a tail?!?!

the internal screaming jumps to a level beyond 100.

maia is not equipped for this — not even while studying marine biology.

she sees the shimmering red tail, the tan skin, the black hair.

maia distantly thinks she might be hallucinating.

the little mermaid come to life.

that isn’t realistic? she wants to point out hysterically.

like okay, she could have a better reaction but uh, mermaids? 

this isn’t a Disney movie. the scientific evidence doesn’t match up.

she’s bewildered as hell.

the mermaid, maia thinks hysterically, let’s out a small cry.

maia’s protective instincts immediately kick in and she finds herself crouching slowly, gently.

and oh. yes. she spies the problem.

the mermaid is trapped beneath net and rock, likely washed across shore from the storm last night.

she doesn’t want to scare the mermaid.

maia hears another pained cry and so she begins to crouch further, sings a soothing lullaby.

the mermaid blearily blinks at her, no sense of fear imminent.

yeah, okay, maia isn’t going to question that right now.

she begins to unthread the net, fingers working through carefully and like magic,  
unraveling the knots until the mermaid with their pretty tail can move around.

their tail flaps and maia blinks.

she stares and the mermaid stares back. it’s surprisingly intense and almost intimate that she wants to look away. 

“isabelle,” the mermaid isabelle murmurs at last.

“maia,” she says softly.

“thank you, maia,” isabelle says.

“there’s no need for thank you’s. not with me,” maia says. 

i know you, her heart twinges. somewhere.

“you helped me and so i thank you,” isabelle says persistently, raising a slight eyebrow up.

maia can’t help but laugh out loud. 

isabelle looks briefly astonished before a warm smile graces their lips. 

maia should have questions like how do you speak languages and how are you communicating and how are you here but she swallows the scientist in her and smiles back.

it’s not important.

isabelle needed her help and she will not bring herself to regret this.

everything begins somewhere, don’t you know?

—

They begin again and again across time.

—

Maia brings Isabelle flowers and oh,  
Isabelle presses them among rocks and savors them so, and Isabelle brings back the prettiest sea shells, precious treasures from the ocean that she keeps close to her heart.

—

Maia’s smile reminds Isabelle of how the sun hits the ocean.

Her laugh like found gold. Her human mannerisms otherworldly but dear. Her heart a beacon all on its own.

i love you so much, maia, maia, maia.

It hurts to think about choices, about letting go.

Isabelle does not want to let go.

—

The rest of the world doesn’t matter.

It’s her and Isabelle. 

Against the world.

—

Oh lovers, you’re learning.

Stronger together, better together, coming together like nothing else matters.

Together, together, together.

The story moves forward.

—

The world tilts and shifts and like the changing seasons, things remain constant but changed.

Maia’s graduation approaches like a brewing storm.

Isabelle sits in the busy auditorium, their smile shining like a brilliant sun.

(also isabelle has the tendency to shift in and out of their form at random times — it’s a long story and process they are working on.)

It’s risky for Isabelle to be here and Maia knows that better than anyone, but god, she can’t help feeling thrilled.

She would never jeopardize Isabelle but Maia recognizes the choices they make. Respects them and loves them with every single bonebloodemotion - Maia’s whole self.

Maia walks across the stage in green, throws her cap and laughs endlessly.

The world is her oyster and the days bring reckoning.

Isabelle is a sight to behold in red and Maia can’t help kissing them, long and passionately and endlessly.

Isabelle, Isabelle, Isabelle. 

They spin together among Maia’s classmates, among family and friends and endless eyes.

—

Maia, Isabelle’s heart thrums.

i can’t let you go.

i won’t.

—

there we go, lovers.

—

My plan comes to fruition today, she thinks giddily.

“I have a surprise,” Maia murmurs, leading Isabelle across the pier later that evening after a day of endless joy, laughter, and pleasant vibes.

“What kind of surprise?” Isabelle asks, narrowing their beautiful dark eyes.

“You shall see,” Maia teases, their fingers interlocked together.

She twirls Isabelle in a circle and murmurs into their ear, “close your eyes.”

Isabelle sends an unamused look in Maia’s direction but complies.

“No peeking!”

Isabelle huffs.

“One.”

Their fingers remain interlocked, their steps moving closer to Maia’s surprise.

“Two.”

Her boat is large and expansive. A research boat, for a more apt term.

“Three.”

Isabelle opens their eyes and lets out an awed gasp.

“Maia, please tell me you didn’t.”

not for me.

i would never tie you down to me, Isabelle wants to say.

Maia senses their immediate hesitation. 

“What’s wrong?” She murmurs, bringing her hand to cup Isabelle’s cheek.

“Please tell me you didn’t do this for me.”

no. yes in a sense but no.

“I did this for me.”

Maia has always wanted to see the world and she has the opportunity, setting fire to her past and beginning her future brightly.

Isabelle smiles, tears streaming quietly.

yes. good.

“You’re my life, Isabelle and I will not ask you to give yourself up nor your home.”

Isabelle looks like they want to argue and so Maia trudges forward.

“I am doing this for me. This is my dream and my life. You are my life and so you’re in this equation. You always were. I love you more than anything, Isabelle,” Maia says sweetly, tenderly.

i won’t make you stay but i will not let you go without a fight.

Isabelle smiles brightly, almost heartbreakingly.

“I never wanted to let you go.”

“So don’t.”

“Isabelle, I am right here. We sacrifice for one another, we bend and protect for the ones we love,” Maia murmurs.

“I belong with you,” Isabelle says like a realization.

Maia isn’t setting fire to keep Isabelle warm, they think.

I can have both.

The sea and Maia.

“And I belong to you,” Maia affirms.

They belong together.

—

Oh finally, you foolish lovers.

Silly mortals.

You finally understand.

The story never stops and neither will them.

Yes.

At last.

—

And so the story goes on and on and on with Isabelle swimming in the ocean, their tail flapping in the shimmering evening sun.

And so Maia watches from her boat, her life stretching endlessly beyond.

And together,

together,

they set sail and march forward.


End file.
